Low power ultra-low voltage THz range detector circuit exploration for plasmonic wave computing

Several initial results at KU Leuven ESAT-MICAS clearly indicate to feasibility of using CMOS technology to generate and detect THz waves. By exploiting the non-linear behavior of transistors, operation above fmax becomes possible and several examples up to 600GHz have already been demonstrated in 28nm CMOS. This clearly indicates the potential of building such very high frequency circuits at reasonable power consumption. However, these concepts have never been transferred to the domain of plasmonic wave computing.

The aim of this PhD thesis will be threefold: i) investigate innovative THz circuits for interfacing with plasmonic waveguides, with the appropriate specifications derived from the existing waveguide designs, ii) explore and propose novel circuit extensions which allow to work at ultra-low voltages and ultra-low power, to achieve maximal energy efficiency iii) demonstrate these concepts in prototype silicon implementations.